Using some peripherals under Debian 5.0 (Lenny)

These are my installation notes for some peripherals under Debian 5.0 (Lenny) and Xfce desktop environment.

Samsung SE-S084C DVD-RW Drive

There is nothing to install to use the drive. You just have to plug it to USB ports, wait a few seconds and run dmesg to see to which device the drive has been attached.

$ dmesg|tail -4

[ 3006.466548] scsi 1:0:0:0: CD-ROM            TSSTcorp CDDVDW SE-S084C  TS01 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
[ 3006.490922] sr0: scsi3-mmc drive: 24x/24x writer dvd-ram cd/rw xa/form2 cdda tray
[ 3006.491092] sr 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0
[ 3006.491160] sr 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 5

On my machine, the drive is attached to device sr0. I use wodim to burn my CDs. I just have to use the option dev=/dev/sr0 in wodim commands.

Canon BJC-250 printer

To install the Canon BJC-250 printer, I booted the PC with the printer plugged in and switched on, and pointed my web browser to CUPS web interface (http://localhost:631).

$ iceweasel http://localhost:631

Then I had to click the Add Printer button and follow the step-by-step instructions. One of the steps is to choose a driver. I chose CUPS+Gutenprint v5.0.2. At some point, I had to give the root user name and root password.

Finally, I had to adjust the printer settings (resolution, paper size, ink type, ...) by clicking Manage Printers and Set Printer Options.

To be able to use the printer in the Xfce environment, you need to go in Xfce menu (Settings|Printing System Settings) and select CUPS as printing system.

Epson Perfection 1660 Photo scanner

To be able to use the Epson Perfection 1660 Photo scanner, I just had to add myself to the group scanner using the following command (as root), and then log out and log back in.

root# adduser my_user_name scanner

To acquire an image, it is possible to use the XSane frontend in Gimp (menu File|Acquire|XSane).

Olitec Self Memory 56000 modem

I successfully used this serial port modem to connect myself to the internet (using pppconfig to configure the connection and the pon and poff commands to start and stop a connection). I installed pppconfig using the following command (as root):

root# aptitude install pppconfig

If you want to use the pon and poff commands as a non-root user, you need to be a member of the dip group:

root# adduser my_user_name dip

A serial port modem is in my opinion the easiest way to set up a dial-up connection. If you don't have a serial port on your computer (and it is probably the case because most modern computers don't have any serial ports), you can use a USB to serial converter like the TRENDnet TU-S9 or another one with a pl2303 chip to connect the modem to a USB port. I use this converter and like it because it works out of the box under Debian. After plugging in the converter to one of your USB ports, you can check the associated device name (probably /dev/ttyUSB0) using the following command:

$ dmesg|tail -8

[26649.384043] usb 1-1: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 6
[26649.596010] usb 1-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[26649.606032] pl2303 1-1:1.0: pl2303 converter detected
[26649.639714] usb 1-1: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0
[26649.639887] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=067b, idProduct=2303
[26649.639891] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[26649.639894] usb 1-1: Product: USB-Serial Controller D
[26649.639897] usb 1-1: Manufacturer: Prolific Technology Inc.

root# aptitude install xtel

Finally, I made sure the modem device name is correct in the files /etc/ppp/peers/iminitel and /etc/xtel/lignes. The correct device name is probably /dev/ttyS0 if the modem is connected directly to a serial port, or /dev/ttyUSB0 if the modem is connected to a USB port using a USB to serial converter.

iRiver iFP-790 flash player

I have installed the graphical user interface ifpgui for iRiver’s iFP players using the following command (as root):

root# aptitude install ifpgui

To make ifpgui usable by non-root users, I had to modify (as root) /etc/udev/rules.d/91-permissions.rules (one line added in the iRiver music players section, follow the link to see my file).

Logitech Formula Vibration Feedback wheel

I used this peripheral to play torcs. It didn't require any particular installation or configuration (but vibration feedback doesn't work).

Logitech Mini Mouse Optical

This peripheral didn't require any particular installation or configuration.